The Scale Reader
by AwesomeOliver
Summary: When a simple fishing trip turns awry, Hiccup and the gang find themselves stuck in an underground cavern that people have been living in for decades. After hearing a legend of a device made by the gods that can help them gain knowledge on dragons, they decide to go looking for it. However, the Scale Reader isn't easy to get to. Many dangers lie ahead, some more obvious than others
1. Chapter 1

**Gah! What am I doing posting another story?! Stupid Oliver, you don't have time to do another story...**

**Well I couldn't help it, so new HTTYD story everyone! Hurray! *fanfare plays in background***

**Okay, for those who've not read it, some elements of this may be taken from my story "To Change a State of Mind" (The name of Astrid's Nadder for instance, yeah I've decided to ignore cannon and just use the name I made up instead). So you can read it first...if you really want to...it's only 7 chapters! But if you don't that's fine.**

**Also if you haven't watched Gift of the Night Fury, yeah **_SPOILAGE HERE**!**_

**Also #2, if you're wondering about the HTTYD show that's coming on Cartoon Network, yeah that doesn't apply to this story.**

***sigh* Look I'm not gonna promise frequent updates, cause, let's face it I don't update quickly. And with my second year of college about to start (not to mention the fact that i'm trying to raise money to go to Africa, and my bible study sessions, and my homework), yeah, don't expect anything quickly.**

**-donthurtmepleaseImonlyaninet eenyearoldgirlImnotbatmanguy scomeonIcantdoeverything!-**

**BUT I WILL UPDATE...eventually.**

**Anyway, if you can live with all that then let the adventure begin!**

_**Disclaimer: Yeah, nothing's changed since I finished TCSM. I still don't own How To Train Your Dragon. But this time I do own the plot and any original characters. I've moved up in the world!**_

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Snow, the cleanest, purest kind fell down onto the already covered forest floor. The tree trunks proudly stood as massive gray and brown columns, holding up one layer of white while growing out of another. The space in between was peacefully silent and barren, and anything green had long since been covered by nature's own white-out.

Life, however, did not cease its existence in the wintery landscape, though it was clinging desperately to what salvations the winter would mercifully hand out. A lynx prowled along the rocks, searching infinitely for a quarry that was either awake or asleep. The few birds that did not migrate sat on barren branches, singing soft notes of woe to the falling flakes of frost. A deer waded its way across the landscape, sniffing at branches, eating the softest of barks, and freezing at the noises that flittered through the echoic space.

He lifted his head gracefully, large antlers crowning its head in a show of his own grandeur and strength. The buck's muscles twitched underneath a thick hide, one that had seen and survived many of the North's harsh winters.

But even that could do nothing against the arrow that whizzed through the white barrier above, and could only feel as the weapon embedded itself into its side.

A strangled cry and soft footfalls of an animal trying to escape death followed, and red spotted the ground as the creature tried to escape the hidden predator, even if all its efforts would be futile. Within minutes, it lay dead on the ground, its blood draining into a patch of color, staining the snow's blank canvas.

A shadow trailed over its still form through the gaps in the trees, almost as dark as the creature that cast it.

The monstrosity swept over the land, wings beating and gliding along the wind currents. Atop its back sat the killer, clad in a thick long-sleeved fur shirt and matching coat, both of which fluttered endlessly against the chilled wind.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III sat on the back of his Night Fury, gazing through a telescope, which he had recently made, at the fallen buck. His bow was slung over his back, the dark wood and strong string of it digging respectfully into both his front and back. A quiver of arrows like the one he had just released sat clipped onto the right of the leather saddle he was seated on.

A smirk played across his lips at the sight of the result of his hunting, and he tucked the eyeglass into a holder along his belt, "Yes! Oh Yeah! Did you see that, Bud? I got it!"

The dragon, Toothless, grumbled in amusement at his rider, gazing hungrily down at the animal and smelling the life that seeped from it.

If anyone were to ask Hiccup how he fared during Berk's winters, he would probably answer the same as all the other Vikings that resided on the island. It was only harsh only to those who weren't prepared, and it was only cold to those who paid attention to the temperature. The winters of the north were something both the boy and dragon were used to and something that wouldn't keep them from their daily routine.

It had been a year and a half since dragons had joined the ranks amongst the Berkians, since the both of them had defeated what had been named the Green Death, since both of them had respectfully lost their ability to move around the land freely without the help of their prosthesis.

That year and a half had been better than all the years before. That is, according to most of Berk. With the end of the war came the beginning of friendship, of early morning flights, of knowledge about dragons that even Fishlegs didn't know; it was without doubt the best thing that the villagers on the island could ever hope for.

Especially when it made hunting a whole lot easier.

Hiccup brought his hand forward to pat Toothless' back, knowing the angle Toothless wanted to take with every flex of the dragon's muscles, every slight angle of the smallest turns. Hiccup no longer had to analyze or search for signs anymore when trying to figure out which way the Night Fury wanted to go, it was just instinct now.

"Alright, let's get down there and bring it back home. What do you say Toothless? I promise to let you have a leg or two," the dragon's fin-like ears perked up instantly, and let out an enthusiastic roar at the offer.

Hiccup barely had time to grab onto the front of the saddle as the Night Fury made a steep dive for the ground, "Whoa!"

Toothless came at the forest floor fast, his wingtips missing the snow covered trees by inches, and landed on the ground gracefully. Or as gracefully as a dragon could when bounding around with excitement. Although Hiccup was used to the dragon's enthusiastic nature, he wasn't exactly pleased to be jostled around so roughly. With quick expertise, he extracted his prosthetic leg from its modified stirrup and hopped off Toothless, sinking a foot into the snow when doing so.

Toothless ran up excitedly to the fallen deer, sniffing what Hiccup guessed was a wonderful smell, and opened his jaws to take a bite out.

"Toothless, not now!" Hiccup ran as fast as his prosthetic would let him, leaving a mismatched pair of footprints behind him, and shoved the dragon's snout away from the kill. Toothless narrowed his eyes at his rider before snorting in Hiccup's direction, the warm breath from his nostrils steaming in the cold air.

"I'll give you some when we get back to Berk. Now stop with the snorting and everything, and let's just get the kill home," Hiccup sent a slightly disgusted glance at the blood, trying not to imagine how much it would stain his clothing, not to mention his saddle. Toothless, as intelligent as his species was, gave a roll of his eyes at his rider's disgust.

With only a little bit of struggling on the Viking's part, the slain buck was successfully secured to the back of the saddle in less than ten minutes, which Hiccup prided himself in for a few moments before taking off into the chilled winter sky.

Within seconds they were at their original altitude, and Hiccup let his dragon guide them. The wind rushing past was cold but soft as it ran its fingers across his face and through his hair. Taking a deep breath, the air smelt of salt from the sea, and chilled his lungs upon its entry. Toothless' dark scales and flowing blood gave off some heat, creating a temperature contrast between the two halves of his body. Hiccup's body shivered involuntarily, something he was accustomed to this time of the year.

Cold or not though, flying was something Hiccup could never live without, not since he had first flown with his best friend. And, although his flight position evolved from hanging on to dear life to the dragon's tail to being able to do miraculous flips and tricks on and off his best friend's back, the thrill of the flights was just as strong as their first.

If you asked around in Berk, the villagers wouldn't say that Hiccup and Toothless were best friends, but more like brothers. They were two parts of one soul, where one could not exist without the other. Hiccup's father and the Chief of Berk, Stoick, wouldn't disagree. Neither would his friends Fishlegs, Ruffnutt, Tuffnutt, and Snotlout. And especially not…

A loud roar and a rush of air flying past the two caused Hiccup to jump and accidentally move Toothless' tailfin into a different position. Toothless let out a roar of surprise as he suddenly took a ninety degree angle to the right and Hiccup felt the familiar sensation of his body almost sliding off the dragon and into a free-fall.

"Whoa!" he waved his arms frantically, trying to counteract the force of gravity, before grabbing the saddle to pull himself back up.

Toothless glared back at his rider and growled as Hiccup positioned himself back into a balanced state, "Hey, don't look at me like that!"

Toothless snorted, but the glare didn't let up.

"It wasn't me! Well, ok it _was_ me, but it wasn't my fault, it was…"

"Having a little trouble there, huh, Hiccup?" the russet haired boy looked to his left and found Astrid Hofferson sitting atop her Nadder, Cress, giving him the most innocent smile he'd ever seen her make. It was _too_ innocent.

He smirked at her, "Oh I'm sorry Astrid, I didn't see you there! You see, this annoying wind came out of nowhere and decided to push Toothless off course. And, you know, made me almost fall to my death and all!" He patted Toothless' head while the dragon nodded for emphasis.

"Oh please, like you would ever fall," Astrid tried to look unamused, but failed to hide the small smile that forced its way out onto her face. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the boy's hunting quarry strapped behind him though, "Hiccup, is that…?"

"A deer, yes it is. Can you believe it?" Hiccup said with a smug smile.

"I'm working on that part. How'd you find it, I haven't seen anything bigger than a rabbit for at least two months."

He shrugged, "Beats me, we were flying over the coast and Toothless caught the scent."

"Lucky you, I haven't caught anything except a few birds and a squirrel that didn't want to hibernate."

Hiccup gave an understanding nod at that, it'd been a problem for Berk this year. For some reason the hunting parties had been coming back with less and less game to feed the village. They'd sent everyone out, from the best hunters and trackers to the women who usually didn't partake in the act, to scout for more food to keep the village up and alive until the middle of spring set in and the ice melted. Whether it was the unforgiving winter or the accusation of overhunting- something everyone knew was true but never mentioned- the village was getting to one of the lowest amount of food supplies they've had in a while.

Some people believed it was because of the immense number dragons they now had to feed.

Hiccup looked over at Astrid's blue and yellow Nadder, Cress, and then back to his own dragon. Even if they were the reason, Hiccup believed the Berkians would never give up their newfound friends for something as simple as food.

"Hiccup," he blinked, coming out of his daze and turning to the direction the voice came from, "You okay over there?"

He smiled in reassurance to Astrid, who was giving him suspicious looks, "I'm fine. So, my dear, what are you doing up here anyway?"

Astrid, trying to ignore the fluttering feeling that came from the way the boy addressed her, sat up straighter as she remembered her reason for seeking out the boy, "I almost forgot, Gobber found me while I was hunting. He wanted me to remind you to get back early for the meeting."

Hiccup's eyes went as wide a saucers, and he looked off towards his home in horror, cursing softly into the wind, "Oh gods! The meeting with the Elders! What time is it?"

"Um, almost midday I'd say," she saw him relax slightly at the news, his body becoming less tense against the wind.

Hiccup ran a hand through his windblown hair, muttering anxiously under his breath, "O-okay, well that gives me at least a little bit of time to get ready."

Astrid gave the boy an encouraging smile; she knew he had a right to be nervous about things like this, now that his dad had been giving more and more thought to Hiccup becoming his successor. And with a decision like that came training, which meant sitting in on meetings, volunteering ideas to better the village, and other important things that dealt with not just the wellbeing of dragons but with every man, woman, and child in the community as well. Although, that wasn't the part he was nervous about. No, the thing that put so much pressure on him was the fact that, even if Stoick saw him fit to lead after the burly man's death, that didn't mean the Council of Elders did. To even get a shot at the title of Chief, he had to prove himself worthy.

And defeating a giant, enraged dragon, an act that ended a long war between species, only got him so close to his future position.

Astrid nudged Cress closer to Toothless with her foot, to the point where their wings brushed as they flew.

"Come on, why don't we go bring our kills to the adults to skin and I'll walk you to the Great Hall?"

Astrid had spoken the sentence in a calm voice, and in return received a gentle smile of agreement from the boy. However, she could still see the nervousness he tried to hide away inside. The knowledge caused the blonde girl to sigh. There wasn't much she could do to take away such stress, but she would stand by and support him no matter what.

"Hey, I'm gonna come over," Astrid shouted over the wind, starting to untangle herself from Cress' saddle. Astrid gathered her wits, bringing Cress just a little closer to Toothless. She eyed the small space between Hiccup and the deer secured behind him. The blonde patted Cress and gave her orders to go back home. Then she shakily stood, readjusting her feet so she could balance against the harsh winds. She set her eyes on Hiccup and crouched.

Hiccup gave her a skeptical look, "What? At this speed? Are you sure you can…"

She jumped across the space and Hiccup threw his hand out to latch on to hers. She scrambled against Toothless' side for a minute before finding a foothold on a part of the saddle. Pulling herself up with ease, she immediately encircled his waist with her arms and snuggled her head into his back.

She felt his chest vibrate as he gave a soft laugh, "Of course you can. Don't know why I asked."

She chuckled, "Actually I wasn't sure for a second, but I knew you would catch me. It's probably nothing compared to the crazy stunts you two do."

"Yeah, well you can only fall so many times before you figure out how to fly," he tilted his head back so he could place a kiss on her own. Astrid giggled at his antics and gave his arm a light slap.

Both of their stomachs suddenly lifted into their throats as Toothless took a steep dive. They were coming up on Berk soon, so Astrid settled herself closer to her boyfriend, relishing the warmth he provided. If she had to describe their relationship in one word to anybody it would be blissful. It started out shy and timid, especially since neither one really dated before. Nobody ever considered Hiccup to be a good candidate in the game of love, so Astrid knew he didn't have much luck in that field. But she was sure she surprised him when she said the same.

"_B-But you're so pretty and awesome, how in the world have you been single all this time?" he asked when they talked about it._

_Astrid shrugged, "It just was something I was never interested in. You know, with training and all, it just slipped my mind. I didn't think it was something I needed or would enjoy. So whenever some guy came up asking me if I wanted to 'work out' with them, I turned them down. When I went off to battle with you I realized that if I was going to date anybody it would be you."_

_He had tried to hide his delighted smile with a smirk, but failed miserably. "So does this mean that if I asked you to 'work out' with me you'd say yes?" Hiccup's voice was hopeful as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her._

_A laugh bubbled up from within her, "You're so goofy."_

They landed easily on Berk's soil, stopping at the butchers to trade the deer in for skinning (or course after Toothless had taken a huge bite out of the thing). The owner was so pleased with what Hiccup presented that she gave the two teens a couple of slices of almond cake she made in congratulations. They left and made the trek to Gobber's blacksmith shop after discussing payment with the butcher.

Hiccup intertwined their fingers, containing what little heat their appendages gave off as they entered the shop, "Okay I just have to put Toothless' saddle back up and then we can head off to the Hall.

They both took off their cloaks as they entered the shop, the heat from the fires made the temperature comfortable enough to not stay bundled up the whole time. Hiccup held the door open for his best friend. Astrid moved to the side as the large dragon bounded in, happy to be near his two favorite humans. As his rider fidgeted with the saddle straps, Astrid made her way around the shop, glancing at some of Hiccup's unfinished projects that lay scattered around the building. She caught a glimpse of one of Toothless' tailfins on a table in the corner and went to investigate it.

After scrutinizing it, she called out, "Hey Hiccup, why is this tailfin here?"

"What tailfin?" he moved away from Toothless slightly to peer over in my direction, "Oh, you remember that fin I made for toothless last Snoggletog? The one that would let him fly on his own?"

Toothless snorted at the mention of the dreadful contraption, but Astrid just nodded.

"Well after somebody-," he looked accusingly at Toothless, who was looking anywhere but at his rider, "-decided to destroy it, I made another one. You know, just in case something happens to me or if at some time I need to fly him without having to change his direction."

He sensed the death glare his Night Fury was giving him and gave the dragon a reassuring scratch along his neck, "Like I said, it's just a precaution."

He turned back to the saddle and with a grunt lifted the contraption off. Readjusting it in his arms, he brought it to the other side of the shop, muscles shifting underneath the fabric of his shirt. Astrid's eyes sat unwavering on his form, content with watching him. Sometimes she couldn't believe they were actually dating. Some days she'd wake up and have to check on Cress just to make sure her life wasn't a dream. She loved that her life wasn't just all about competition now. She loved that she could soar up in the sky without a care in the world. She loved the peace time the village had plunged into. She loved having someone to hold onto when she wasn't feeling her best. She loved hidden kisses and sweet whispers. Whatever this new life was, it couldn't be hers. And yet there she was, with the proof standing right in front of her.

"Astrid? Um hey, As-trid!" She blinked, coming back to the present to see Hiccup waving his hand in front of her line of sight. She batted it away gently, watching him as he chuckled, "You were doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"Staring at me with that…far-off look you always get. Oh wait, let me guess, the Amazing Astrid just can't get enough of me, huh? Did you notice I've been working out?" He struck a pose that reminded her of Snotlout when he was pinning for girls at the village square. She giggled, but, truth be told, she _had_ noticed. He gained a decent amount of muscle from the past two years or so, especially with the amount of time spent doing things that involved dragons as well as his job as a blacksmith, both jobs requiring a lot of heavy lifting. . Sure he was a long way from Snotlout and Fishlegs, with a muscle tone more like Tuffnutts than anybody's, but anything else just wouldn't be…Hiccup.

They'd both even had a few good sparing lessons, on her insistence. He'd been working hard on it too. She had deemed him fair in archery and swordplay. He was at least able to hold his own for a good while, and though she was sure he wouldn't use it to kill anybody, maiming was just as good. As long as he stayed safe long enough for her to find and back him up.

"Yes I've noticed. But maybe you haven't since I was there every time to help you. By the way, you're getting better and better every time we go practice."

Hiccup shrugged, "Well, I have an awesome teacher."

Her gaze softened at the words, blue irises sparkling at the compliment. People around Berk had always given her words of praise, but they were all for her fighting skills, her defense tactics, her ability to hit any target she needed to with perfect accuracy. She'd all but ignored such things now. She'd put on a smile and say her thanks out of politeness, but the words of affirmation didn't give her the same sense of pride as they used to. But when Hiccup said those kind words, when he gave her that amazed smile, that look of awe at what she's done, she felt happy; and usually those words weren't even about her fighting ability, but soft, simple claims like how pretty she looked that day or how much she made him smile. It was refreshing as well as flattering.

She stepped closer to him, "A teacher's only good if the student learns."

She gave him a soft kiss, her arms crawling over his shoulders and around his neck. Her fingers clung to the warmth of his skin, drawing her even closer. Her brain fuzzed in and out of reality as she felt one of his hands cup her cheek and the other go into her hair.

Kiss like this were sometimes rare for the two, depending on how many people were around or how busy they were, but, whenever they did happen, it took a long while before Astrid's skin stopped tingling.

They broke apart, and Astrid immediately felt the winter chill drift back across her skin.

Hiccup let out a long breath, a lazy smile on his face, "Wow, anymore of that and I won't want to go to the meeting."

"Like that's a hard decision anyway," she gave him one last kiss on the cheek, "speaking of which, you should probably get to the Great Hall."

"Okay," he offered up his arm to her, "Walk with me?"

Astrid nodded and placed her wrapped her own arm around his.

H~~~~~~~T~~~~~~~T~~~~~~Y~~~~~~D

The Great Hall was cleared out as Hiccup and Astrid walked in. All the wooden tables the villagers dined on were cast off to the side of the building, and in the middle now stood a great, circular table with enough chairs to seat around fifteen.

Hiccup stared at the largest chair, his father's, and felt a sense of dread come upon him. He didn't want to let his dad down again, he'd done it too many times already.

He felt a hand grip his bicep, "Hey, you okay?"

The look Astrid gave him was one of concern, and he felt a sense of guilt come upon him at the fact that he was making her worry so much. As a chief-to-be, he should be able to handle situations without causing uneasiness to the village. Gosh, he wasn't even the chief yet and he was already screwing up at the job.

"I'm fine," his voice came out sharper than he meant it to be, and Hiccup pretended not to see the shocked expression appear on his girlfriend's face at his tone.

The thing about Astrid was, she could always see through whatever veil he tried to put up. After her initial shock at his harsh tone, she set her expression to match his, "Well excuse me for being concerned, Hiccup. I'm only trying to help; you just seem so stressed about this."

He tried to keep up a stoic façade to keep her off track, but the longer she held a glare to his face, the quicker his shoulders slumped in defeat.

He gave a heavy sigh and apologized to her, "Sorry, Astrid. It's just-" he looked to the Elders who were already flocking around the table, taking in hushed voices about things hidden from his ears, "I can't stain the name of Haddock any more than I already have. I have to get this right not for the sake of my reputation, but for my dad's as well."

Astrid's expression softened at his words, "Hiccup…you haven't stained anything. You-"

"Have already made too many mishaps in my lifetime as a Viking. One good decision can't erase a hundred wrong ones, Astrid, and the Elders know that."

She moved to stand in front of him, and placed a hand on his cheek, rubbing her thumb back and for in a soothing manner, "But the one good decision you made was so lifechanging, it outweighed all the bad ones, Hiccup."

They glanced at the other adults as Stoick and Gobber entered the Hall, walking in a way that seemed to announce the beginning of the meeting. As the council moved to take their designated seats Astrid gave Hiccup a tight hug, giving him all the support she could before she was forced to leave.

"Don't stress too much, everything will sort itself out," she gave his cheek a soft kiss and his hand a squeeze before escorting herself out of the building.

Having his girlfriend leave his side was suddenly comparable to a drowning man losing the driftwood that helped him stay afloat. Hiccup stood at the side, analyzing the now filled table. Stoick caught his eye as he gave his son an encouraging nod, motion for Hiccup to stand behind his chair for the meeting.

Hiccup smiled, glad his father was at least on his side. He took a deep breath to steel himself and walked over to where Stoick indicated. He could feel the eyes of the Elders on him, and busied himself by studying the woodwork of the table they sat around.

Stoick didn't seem to notice the uneasiness his son was feeling as his voice boomed around the Great Hall, "Well, I see that we're all here. Let's get down to business."

Hiccup smiled at his Dad's straight-forwardness as he listened quietly to the meeting.

"First and foremost, as it were, we need to figure out how to solve our food problem. Winter is just beginning, and it's only gonna get worse from here on out. We need more food. How are the search parties going around the island?"

Gleb Haugen, a burly yet kind man who helped make most of the ships used by the village, stood out of his chair to address the question, "My search party went throughout the north and west side of the island. We stayed out there for a whole week, and the only thing we saw fit for eating were some hares and the bark on the trees. There is nothin', Stoick. We've checked everywhere, but nothin'."

Hiccup's eyes narrowed at the information. This wasn't good at all.

Stoick seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he addressed the man sitting next to Gleb, "And the east and south?"

"Same luck here, only the creek stopped us halfway. The ice is too thin to cross, and who knows if there's anythin' underneath. I say one more search party thata way."

Gobber spoke up from the side, "Aye, we could do that. But it'd take a week to even get to the creek, then how long after? What we need is food for right now, until we can gather a party and go out there."

"So what?" said a man near Hiccup in a defiant tone, "The livestock won't hold forever so what do you suggest? Fish? It's winter ya daft hog-knocker, there's barely anythin' left in the ocean!"

Gobber waved his hammer prosthetic flippantly at the other man, "Ah, put a sock in it Torsten ya old wet blanket."

Torsten crossed his muscled arms in front of his chest, "And even if we do, we're sending almost everyone out daily to catch the small beasties, nobody's gonna want ta go out over the freezing ocean to look for fish that aren't there."

"I will," The small argument ceased as the Elders looked at Hiccup. The boy froze now that he was in the spotlight, looking to his father and Gobber uncertainly, "I could lead a hunting party out to the south side of the sea. Me, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins can go."

Torsten scoffed, "Oh yes, let Hiccup go. Watch him come back soaking wet and empty handed."

There was scattered laughter from him and five others around the table, and Hiccup didn't know whether to feel belittled or angry by the insult.

Stoick pointed his finger threateningly at the brunette man, "I would watch your tongue Torsten. My boy saved all our lives and defeated a creature even you wouldn't dare challenge alone."

"Beginner's luck is what that was. Have you not forgotten what all he's done before that? All the mishaps you had to clean up, Chief? And may I suggest the fact that we've run out of food is because of all the extra bellies we have to fill? These dragons are using up supplies too fast to keep up with. And who's fault is that? Well, we all know the answer."

Something about Torsten stirred in Hiccup's memory. Something Astrid said about an angry mob that appeared outside his house when he was unconscious after the defeat of the Green Death. He figured that this man was one of few who still hadn't accepted the abrupt change of treatment towards dragons. It was kind of sad for Hiccup to think about. Even after almost two years, the man was still stuck on old traditions.

The thought of this steeled a resolve in Hiccup that hadn't stirred since his victory at the Nest. The need to be accepted, to be placed on the same level as the Vikings that surrounded him. The need to prove himself.

Hiccup stepped forward, out from behind his father's chair, and placed his hands on the table. He raked his eyes across the table as the Elders waited for his response.

Hiccup's gaze stopped as he leveled his eyes with his accuser, "Mr. Torsten me and the others will go out there and bring back something to eat. It may be a lot or it may be a little, but I assure you we _will_ find something."

Torsten's expressions didn't change and Hiccup held back a bleak sigh, "I don't know what I can do to change your views Sir, but if the fact that dragons coexist with us is the cause of this food shortage, then there's nothing we can do about it now. Half of our kills come from the aid of dragons, they're the reason we're still surviving.

We will go out and we will bring back food. That you can be sure of."

There was silence around the council as they contemplated the notion. Stoick was the first to break it, "Son, are you sure?"

"He is sure," the frail voice of Nordis wafted across the air. Hiccup turned towards her and saw her give a gentle smile at him, "It will serve as a good exercise for him. He who wants to lead a village first must learn to lead himself. If he believes he can do this, then he can."

Hiccup's head bowed slightly under the support given to him, and smiled back at the old woman, "Thank you Elder Nordis."

Stoick watched the exchange silently, before standing up," Alright, if Elder Nordis agrees, I agree. All in favor of letting Hiccup bring out a party on the sea? Say Aye."

There were multiple 'aye's that came from the table. Hiccup noticed that, while he was shaking his head, Torston also agreed. He guessed the man just wanted a chance at food, that or he wanted to see how much the boy failed at his quest.

It was official; Hiccup was taking a step further into becoming Chief, even if it was a simple fishing trip.

Hiccup didn't want to make a mountain out of a molehill, but it was still his first step.

If only he had looked before he walked.

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**Woohoo! Let's get this par-tay started!**

**Well, I'm gonna go hunker down and watch some Kim Possible (DON'T JUDGE ME!) before Hurricane Isaac comes and kills the power. See ya guys!**

**...Mmmmm, and now I want some almond cake too...**

**~Oliver**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hurray! Chapter 2! Lol, yeah it took a while but hopefully I'll get better the further the story goes :)**

**I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter...a part of me likes it alright and the other is like 'meh I could do a lot better'. So i'll just let you guys decide for me.**

**Also, on a random note, I _LOVE_ writing Tuffnutt/Ruffnutt sibling banter, it's way too fun to be healthy, hehe.**

**So enjoy the chapter, and Merry Christmas :) (To those who don't celebrate it, Happy Holidays! Tell your family and friends you love them!)**

**_Disclaimer: Me no own How To Train Your Dragon. I own myself. And the food I buy. And toothpaste. And half of my clothes. And everything I buy for my college classes. And a lamp. And a hobbit. Yeah, I own a hobbit. That is all._**

* * *

"So…why are we doing this again?"

Hiccup turned around slightly from Toothless, who patiently waited as his rider adjusted the saddle on his back.

Hiccup pushed down the urge to roll his eyes, "Because we need the food, Snotlout. It's not like the fish are going to hop into our hands and say 'oh, please help yourselves to our flesh, we know how hungry you are'."

The burly teen spun from his own dragon and narrowed his eyes in irritation, "I _know _that!"

Hiccup heard a snicker some from one of the twins, who were doing gods knew what somewhere to the left of him. He recognized the voice of Tuffnutt as it muttered to his sister, "Yeah, but wouldn't it be awesome if fish did that"

"Only you would wish for suicide fish."

"It's not suicide if we eat them…or would it, you know, since it offered itself up?"

Snotlout, unamused by the two, sent an annoyed glare their way to try to shut them up, which failed as they simply laughed at him, before continuing, "What I meant was why are _we, _specifically, doing this? I could be spending this day doing much cooler stuff. Like, not freezing my butt off over an ocean or making a roasting-hot bonfire! Or picking up hot chicks to _join _me at making a roasting-hot bonfire! That's two hot things I'm missing out on-ow!"

Astrid, having silently walked up to him, had her hand lingering in the air from her smack to the back of Snotlout's head, "It won't kill you to go on a quick errand. Suck it up and take it like a man."

Hiccup didn't know whether to chuckle or sigh at Snotlout's grumbles. But he couldn't blame the guy, it wasn't his idea in the first place.

After the meeting had concluded and the full realization of what he just offered to do hit him, Hiccup knew exactly how his friends would act. It's not that they wouldn't follow him or help, oh no, they'd jump at the chance to help their village. However, Hiccup wasn't dumb enough to believe they'd make it easy on him. Despite Astrid calling their little fishing trip a 'quick errand', it was going to be a long day filled to the brim with cold sea spray and complaining dragon riders. He was glad Astrid was there to help him keep the others in line. Because, deep down, he just knew they were going to find a way to entertain themselves, and he was sure it wasn't going to be something pleasant.

Astrid brought out of his musings by walking up next to him and leaning against Toothless' warm side.

"So, Fishlegs and I found a net that we can use. And he says Meatlug is strong enough to carry it for us."

Well that was one less thing he had to worry about. He gave her a grateful smile

"Really? That's great, thanks. That actually saves us a lot of time," he started looking around for Fishlegs, but returned to straightening his dragon's saddle when he didn't see any sign of the boy, "Um…where is he?"

Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched as Toothless sniffed Astrid up and down, probably trying to sniff out a treat, and she in turn patted his head, "He's trying to secure it to his dragon, she keeps running after the sheep let loose around the dock."

Hiccup smiled back, "That's a good thing, considering what I have in mind. That she can carry it, I mean."

"Oh? And are you going to share this 'plan' with your co-captain?"

"Co-captain? More like a sidekick."

Astrid gave him a light slap across his shoulder as he laughed, and smiled in spite of herself.

The change of subject from Astrid was quick and blunt, just like always, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Astrid and Toothless, who was probably just having fun mimicking her, stared him down in a way that could only make him tell the truth, "Well, I don't have much of a choice about it now, do I? I told the Elder council I would bring back food, and that's what I'm going to do."

"And if we don't find anything?"

Hiccup sighed, "You guys are free to leave anytime you choose. You know that, the others know that. If we have a stroke of horrible luck and don't catch anything then I'll stay by myself. I'm the one that promised, not you."

"Oh, enough of that big, tough-guy speech. Even if they leave, which I doubt, I'm staying 'till the end," she teased, but her eyes shone with understanding.

"Yeah, like we'd leave you in the middle of the ocean, lover boy," he hadn't even noticed Snotlout come up behind him until his hair was ruffled.

Hiccup sent a mock glare at his cousin, before something behind the burly teen caught his eye, "Well, Fishlegs is here. Lets fly."

H~~~~~~~~~~T~~~~~~~~~~~~~T~~~~~~~~~~~~Y~~~~~~~~~~~D

The single thing that took up Astrid's mind as she and her friends flew out to the south of Berk was that the air was freaking cold. No, cold wasn't good enough, it was similar to hundreds of microscopic shards of ice being slammed into her skin. Not that she'd ever experienced that before.

She didn't know how far south they had flown from Berk, a few hours at least, but she couldn't feel any difference in the temperature of the air. It didn't help that the sun was blocked out by a wall of white, dreary clouds. Not only could she not tell how long they'd been flying but she was also deprived of what little warmth the sky offered up.

Shivering, she leaned closer down onto Cress' back before shouting over the wind, "How much further Hiccup?"

They were flying in a V-shaped formation; Hiccup, being the leader of their little flock, took the lead on Toothless. She and Snotlout flew on either side of him with the twins and Fishlegs backing them up as the rear. Hiccup had taken a look at one of his father's maps before they started saddling up and gathering supplies. Astrid knew he already had a plan wrapped up in that head of his that was just waiting to be put into action.

She saw him mumble something to himself, but the words were spoken too quietly for her to decipher, as he scanned the horizon for what seemed like the hundredth time since they left.

However, this time he found what he was looking for, "Now long at all. Look," his eyes lit up in accomplishment as he pointed northeast from their position.

Astrid narrowed her eyes at the splotch her boyfriend had pointed out to try to identify it.

"Is that an island?" Snotlout asked, holding a hand above his eyes as if that would help him see it better.

Hiccup nodded in affirmation, signaling the group to change their flight pattern to head towards it. His mouth opened to explain, but Fishlegs beat him to the punch, "That's the island of Halldor. The soil's as hard as rock if it's not rock itself, so nothing is able to grow there. Nobody lives there because of that. It's basically just a hunk of rock and dirt."

"Exactly," Hiccup gave his friend an affirmative smile, "It's far enough south that it's a few degrees warmer that Berk, and, since nobody lives there, there's bound to be tons of fish hiding in the rocks under the water. If anyplace around Berk still has fish swimming around, it'll be there. We'll cast the net out and fish for a few hours, take a rest on Halldor if we need to, then head back home with food for the whole village."

Astrid bit her lower lip, that plan almost sounded too good to be true. Knowing them, their fair share of luck probably wouldn't hold out that long.

It didn't take long to reach the island, it was closer than it appeared to be when they first saw it. As Astrid landed Cress, scratching her Nadder on the neck in praise, she took the chance to examine the large hunk of land.

Well, large wasn't exactly a good word to describe it. It wasn't as large as it was tall. Blackish-grey cliffs towered over her and her friends, hundreds of feet high. The shore was wide but not nearly as wide as Berk's, and the bluff's walls were littered with holes and crevasses, she even saw a decent sized cave carved out of the cliff-face near their landing spot. It kind of reminded her of the Nest in some ways, except for the fact that she couldn't seen any dragons, let alone any other kind of living creature. Nor was there a giant Queen dragon that wanted to eat them. That was a plus.

It was just as Fishlegs said, it was a lifeless island.

_Not even in a frightening way either_, Astrid thought to herself and stuck out her tongue at the island in an uncharacteristic show of childishness. The island did nothing in response.

"This place is creepy guys," Tuffnutt said as he hopped off of his Zippleback.

Ruffnutt patted his cheek, their dragon's heads, Belch and Barf, gave the twins exasperated looks, "Aw, it the wittle baby scared?"

Tuffnutt swatted his sister's hand away, "Uh, do you not see the ominous black rock formations and cave? It just screams 'Island of Death'!"

"Ha! You _are _scared!"

"Am _not_!"

"Guys," Hiccup shouted over them, "save the arguing for later we have to get this done. Now gather around and listen up."

The teens gathered in a circle and listened to their appointed leader. The plan was to take the net, which Astrid swore was as wide as one of the wings of the Green Death, out over various spots around the island. Cress, the twin's Zippleback, Meatlug, and Hookfang would each hold a corner of it and drop it into the open water and hover for awhile. Toothless, who couldn't hover in one spot very long due to his handicap, would frighten the fish to swim into the area and keep them in with his speed. Once they felt they had herded enough of the beasties into the net, _snap_! They would close the net and eat seafood for dinner.

Astrid had to admit, it was a good plan.

For the rest of the day, until the amount of daylight had diminished drastically, they had carried out said plan. It had worked wondrously, Astrid didn't even realize there were that many fish still in the area. Strange how a few degrees of warmth can change the amount of food available. They dropped the net into the water a total of ten times, sometimes they were rewarded with a lot when the net was pulled up, sometimes there was a little, sometimes the group barely caught anything, but by the time Hiccup had called it a day, there was a decent amount of fish shoved in the baskets hanging on their dragons' saddles. Enough to even spare a few as a snack for the dragons, who were very pleased with the treat.

With the stash of fish safely on the island, Hiccup presented the idea of going out and doing one more round, of course the group all agreed.

The group hopped onto their dragons once more, Astrid noticed with more a spring in their steps than there had been that morning, and headed out a little farther from the island.

With all the attention she had given to the act of fishing and the enjoyment of receiving a fairly large catch, Astrid, as well as the others, hadn't noticed the darkening of the sky until she felt a drop of cold water drip down her face. She cast a curious glance upward and saw snow falling. She shoved the thought to the back of her mind before a deep rumble of thunder sounded off close to their little group. She looked over to Hiccup, who had abandoned his duties herding fish into the net to look in the direction the thunder came from. She was about to call out to him when another closer, earth-shattering _bang _and a blinding flash of lightning ran out across the ocean.

Astrid covered her ears at the deafening sound, and looked over to Ruffnutt and Tuffnutt who had almost fallen off their dragon at the startling sound. She made sure everyone else was still on their dragon and had regained their bearings before signaling Cress to drop her edge of the net and fly over to where Hiccup and his Night Fury were flying.

When she caught up to them, she saw that Hiccup's eyebrows were scrunched in worry and confusion as he stared at the sky.

"You think it's going to snow hard?" She asked the chieftain's son over the distance.

She opened her mouth to ask again when he didn't answer, but a sound made her stop. A dull roaring came from in front of her, something she was terribly familiar with. Of course, why hadn't she realized it before? Cress tensed under her and gave a frightened squawk, the atmosphere seeming to shift under the realization of what was upon them.

She heard Hiccup curse softly before guiding Toothless back to the others at an alarmingly swift pace, but not before shouting, "Blizzard!"

Astrid snapped her head around to the direction he was staring at, and sure enough a wall of white could be seen in the distance, and it was approaching rapidly.

Astrid guided Cress to follow after Toothless, it looked like their stroke of good luck had run out.

_Bad, bad, very bad, _Astrid through to herself as they flew back.

Blizzards came often to Berk, and when they did they were usually massive. They could last for days on end and the damage to the land and livestock weren't taken lightly either. Astrid and her mother, as well as everyone else, hid in the safety of their houses until they weren't blocked inside from the snow. Anybody stupid enough to be outside during one would freeze to death in little time. Of course, their houses were built to withstand such weather, but out in the open over the ocean? Astrid gave herself at the most a day before frostbite (and eventually death) came upon her.

She caught up with Hiccup, who was flying to each of the other trainees, giving them warning, "Come on, pull the net up a blizzard's headed our way! A big one!"

Snotlout did as he was told but shouted after his cousin, "What? And you didn't notice it before! Where are we supposed to go?"

She saw Hiccup run a hand hastily through his hair as he thought, "Go…go…go to…the cave! Tuffnutt, didn't you say you saw a cave on Halldor?"

"Uh, not in those exact words, but yeah-"

"Go there, get the fish and dragons inside and go in as deep as you can, even if you get split up! Just go!"

By the time the net was brought up, the storm had hit them. Astrid sunk into her fur coat, wincing when she felt the snow hit it and melt from her body heat. The wailing of the wind was deafening and the amount of snow that slammed into her was blinding. Cress squawked in surprise at the sudden change of weather. Astrid shook snow out of her eyes, wincing as it went down her neck and under her coat instead, and tried to catch a glimpse of the others, one in particular.

"Hiccup!" she shouted over the monstrous storm that sat on top of them.

"Astrid!" a familiar voice answered her. She caught a glimpse of black shifting through the white and flew Cress towards it, taking little to no time to find herself right on Toothless' tail.

Astrid, with what little visibility she had, kept as close to Hiccup as possible. She wasn't worried he'd fall off or that Toothless wouldn't be able to find his way, no she knew they were capable of making it out on their own. However, the way the wind tried to bite and tear at Toothless' fake tailfin had her worried. The fabric fluttered violently as the white demon tore at it, being thrown to and fro across it's metal skeleton. She had Cress fly right on the Night Fury's tail, the bright splotch of red and black being the only thing she could discern in the cold whiteness.

He had one close call, where the wind and ice managed to get it's jaws around Toothless' tail and rip the edges of it slightly. Toothless gave the dragon equivalent of a stumble and slid in the air before adjusting and flying on with less precision than he had before.

Cress' flight pattern wasn't much better despite her not having the same inconvenience.

Her dragon roared in frustration as another blast of wind sent snow and ice into her face. Astrid shushed her Nadder, "It's alright girl, we're almost there I promise. Just stay close to Toothless."

After what seemed like hours Astrid was finally able to see the dark island, standing out invitingly through the harsh snow. She let a breath she hadn't know she'd been holding out through her mouth. And regretted it when she was rewarded with a mouthfull of snow.

With the mouth of the cave being wide enough for their dragons, Astrid and Hiccup flew inside. They flew in until the tunnel became too narrow for the dragons to proceed into without clipping their wings.

Once Cress was on solid ground, Astrid hopped off her Deadly Nadder with shivering, numb legs and gave her friend a few frozen pats as she unsaddled her, "Good girl, C-Cress. Very good, it's all over now. Go get w-warm."

After setting the saddle down, she assessed herself as well. Her coat, damp with melted snow, wasn't helping her body temperature rise at all. She looked over and saw that Hiccup was in the same condition, Toothless stood behind him, shaking off the white patches of ice that had frozen onto this body and wings.

The loud complaints that fluttered from the cave to her ears told Astrid that the others had made it safe and sound.

Hiccup, having taken his coat off, walked up to her and helped her unfreeze enough to slip hers off as well, "W-we can't keep these on. We'll g-get hypothermia, or worse."

He slung their furs over a nearby overhang on the wall, and Astrid let out a choked chuckle as the Night Fury scratched at the cave floor before sending a stream of blue-hot fire down. Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation when he then proceeded to roll around in the embers.

"Toothless, you're going to singe the-oh forget it," the obsidian dragon, now laying on his back with legs kicking in the air, simply shot his best friend a toothelss smile. Astrid laughed again, if anything the dragon sure did know how to push his rider's buttons.

Astrid took his hands in hers, and briskly tried to rub the warmth back into them after giving an inner wince at how icy they felt. His lips were slightly blue with cold, and she was sure hers were as well. She gave him a kiss, that was meant to warm the both of them up.

He smiled at her as they turned to rejoin the others, "Thanks for sticking close behind us. I wasn't exactly sure Toothless' tail would make it through that."

Astrid smiled back and hugged him closer, "I would never leave you behind."

H~~~~~~~~~T~~~~~~~~T~~~~~~~Y~~~~~~D

Hiccup was relieved to find that the others had come out unscratched, despite Snotlout being sure his whole body had gotten frostbite. He was just as relieved that Toothless' fin had held out through the ride to safety. He made a mental note to thank Gobber for doing such a good job at making it when he got back home. He didn't think Toothless would've held up so well against the wind otherwise.

The others, cold and tired from the day's work, ended up huddling against their dragons not long after. With the exception of Astrid, who went into a deep sleep with him on one side and Cress nuzzled up on the other. Only after he'd been sure that all the others were asleep did he let himself brood.

He had been stupid. Stupid and overconfident.

It would've been _so easy _to tell the blizzard was coming. He was the leader, he should've been looking out for them. He should've notice the thunder in the distance, the roughness of the seas.

If he had been paying attention, he could've gotten everyone packed up and headed back home in time to have them sitting out the storm in front of a fireplace, not a dingy cave in the middle of nowhere. Strike number Odin-knows-what for Hiccup Horrendous haddock III.

_Idiot._

He ground his teeth in self-deprecation, only coming out of his revere by a something prodding his shoulder. He turned and saw Toothless looking at him with a look that Hiccup could swear went straight through his body and into his soul. Without any words, a lecture from the dragon was given and received. Hiccup sighed and held his hand out to his friend. Toothless, like that first day in the cove so long ago, nuzzled the appendage with the tip of his nose in a reassuring manner before settling his head on his riders lap. Before long the dragon had joined the others in sleep.

Hiccup placed a hand on the Night Fury's head and gave a few thankful scratches. He spoke softly so as not to wake the girl on his other side, "You're right, no use worrying about it now."

He glanced towards the entrance of the cave. Although the opening to the outside was far off and not in sight, he could still hear the howling of the wind as it attacked the sides of their sanctuary.

Hiccup leaned his head back on the rock wall and closed his eyes, "We'll figure it out in the morning."

Hiccup wasn't sure how long they slept, but when Fishlegs shook him awake his legs were sore and his spine felt bent. Sleeping in a cave wasn't the best thing after a day of riding dragons. The blonde boy offered him a semi-scorched fish and Hiccup took it gratefully with an affirming growl from his stomach to back it up.

Astrid, having woken up earlier to go check out the weather, came back with a solemn look, "Well, the storm's still a-blowing. And it doesn't look like it's gonna let up anytime soon."

"Well, that's to be expected I guess," Hiccup said in between bites of Icelandic cod, "It is a blizzard after all. We should thank the gods we're lucky enough to have food. We'll probably be here a few days at the most."

Tuffnutt groaned, "A few days? What are we supposed to do during then?"

Silence consumed their group, "….I spy something black."

"Psh, a rock?"

"Damn. Your turn."

Hiccup, having finished his breakfast, stood up and stretched. Most of the dragons were still asleep, which was expected, they were the ones doing most of the work during their trip. He looked past Snotlout's Monsterous Nightmare, who's rider was strangely absent a the moment, and into the cave's darkness. He hadn't realized it until now, but the dragons must have sent their fire into their area of the cave, warming the air and setting the rocks alight with a light orange glow. But the areas behind them were dark. Dark and taunting.

"Guys!" a voice surprisingly came from the dark and taunting side of the cave.

Snotlout came out with an ecstatic look on his face, "You guys have got to come see this! I just found a relic! Come on!"

"What's a reli-"

Ruffnutt was cut off as Snotlout grabbed the twins roughly by their arms, ignoring their loud protests, and pulled them into the dark. Toothless, with his sharp hearing, brought his head up sleepily at the sound of them leaving.

Hiccup gave him a smile, "Stay here bud, we'll be right back."

The dragon simply went back to sleep, but Hiccup knew he understood perfectly. Strange how intelligent dragons were.

Navigating the darkness was a little harder than expected for the russet-haired teen, who couldn't feel the rocks in front of his left foot. He stumbled a few times but took pride in not falling flat on his face. Astrid walked next to him the whole time, watching over him like a mother hen. He didn't know if he felt irritated or flattered by that.

It wasn't long before they came upon Snotlout's discovery, and he didn't even have to announce it.

A hole stood in the ceiling of the cave, enough to give off some of the white light of the dawn into the darkness. Stalactites and stalagmites littered the area like teeth in a monster's jaws. It was amazing none of them had hit any on their way in from the storm.

Snotlout, who had dragged the others to a corner of the wall, called out to them, "Over here, come look."

Hiccup walked up to them and stared at the spot on the wall the others seemed entranced with. On the black rock was white writing, almost faded from view. Hiccup could understand it, but a few of the symbols seemed a little off, like somebody knew how to write the word but accidentally misplaced some letters with others.

"_Drómundr_," Hiccup read the word out loud. That's all it was, just a name. An name of who, or what, Hiccup didn't know. A person who had been stranded on the island maybe?

Ruffnutt scoffed, "That's all? I was expecting, like, glowing rocks or something."

Snotlout gawked at her, "Um, hello, this is an artifact of ancient history! I deserve some credit for finding _something _at least."

"Ancient history? More like some sludge-bucket just wanted to write his name on the wall a few years ago."

"You're just jealous you didn't find anything. But it's okay, I'll let it go. It's hard to be as awesome as me."

Astrid just shook her head, "Well, whoever wrote it, they're long gone now. Let's get back before our dragons decide to eat all our fish."

The others grumbled out agreements, none too excited about going back and waiting out the snowstorm.

Hiccup turned to follow them, but gave one last glance at the writing, and just barely making out the arrow drawn out underneath it that pointed down towards the cavern floor.

Drómundr.

He'd make sure to ask his father about the name when he got back to Berk.

Turning to follow his friends, Hiccup didn't get a few steps in before his prosthetic leg caught a rock, and he fell down face first. He pretended he didn't notice the other's winces and quiet 'ouch's that came afterwards. _Well, so much for not falling flat on my face_, he thought irately and sighed.

"Damn leg," he muttered as he tried to pick himself up, but he stumbled back when he tried to moved his amputated leg. Craning his neck to look, he found the metal foot of his prosthetic had gotten stuck in a crack in the rock floor. Another sigh, "Just what I need."

Astrid was beside him suddenly, her hand gently resting on his shoulder, "You okay?"

Hiccup nodded, only slightly embarrassed at his situation, "Yeah I'm alright. My leg's stuck though."

Astrid looked back at his leg and then nodded. She put the arm closest to her around her neck and helped balance him as he stood up, an arm around his waist to steady him, "Tuff, Ruff, help me hold him up."

They immediately came, not taunts or teasing leaving their mouths, and for that Hiccup was grateful.

That had been the biggest difference in their little group that had occurred since the defeat of the Green Death. Way back when dragons were still considered their greatest enemy, if Hiccup would've tripped and fallen it would've been met with laughter and ridicule from the twins and Snotlout, sometimes even Astrid if she were having a particularly bad day.

He had forgiven them long ago for that, and now, whether out of respect or friendship or the want to make up for all the times they didn't help, if any of them were ever in proximity they would go rushing to his assistance when he fell. He knew it wasn't out of pity, it was out of concern- and maybe a little pinch of love- and that's more than he could've ever asked for.

It took a little bit of maneuvering but somehow Tuffnutt, Ruffnutt, and Astrid were able to hold him upright. Astrid held him the tightest out of all of them, "Ok on three we're going to try to pull you out. Got it?"

Hiccup gave her a nod, looking down at his trapped leg and hoping the rock wasn't too solid to keep him trapped.

They tugged a few times, each try getting harder until the straps keeping his prosthetic on dug into his skin painfully.

"Ow, ow, ok this isn't going to work," Hiccup ground out tersely, and they set him down on the ground again.

Snotlout and Fishlegs bent down to get a closer look at the crack. Toothless, having heard his rider's distressed tone of voice from the other side of the cave, had appeared quickly, his body barely fitting through the narrowed tunnel. He stood around them, clawing and growling at the rock that held Hiccup's foot hostage.

"How'd you even get yourself stuck in there? It's, like, freakisly narrow."

What Snotlout got in response was a sigh, "I have no idea, all I did was walk."

Fishlegs suddenly started hopping up and down excitedly, "Oh! Oh! Hold on a second, I have an idea!"

He raced over back down the path, his heavy footsteps echoing around them in the slight darkness. A minute later he rushed back holding a metal spear he had gotten from his supplies.

"We'll just put the blade in and try to pry the crack open a little more. Or use it to chip away the rock."

Hiccup looked a little wary at the thought of Fishlegs or Snotlout brandishing a spear around his trapped leg and gave Astrid a subtle, helpless look.

She received it and handed him off to Snotlout, who he couldn't help but notice did _not _hold him as gently or comfortably as Astrid did, and took the spear from Fishlegs.

"Alright, I'll try to chip off some rock around his leg, just don't move him," and with that she brought the spearhead down fast and hard against the crevasse. Hiccup was slightly amazed at how hard the rock held, and after some time could see that her chipping was going nowhere. He sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, maybe Toothless could throw a small fire ball at it; maybe that would make it a little weaker.

He heard Astrid growl in frustration and watched as she glared daggers at the floor, "This is ridiculous!"

She slammed the spear head into the center of the fissure with all her strength, and a low, sharp _crack _echoed through the cave. They all froze in shock and Toothless, ears pinned back, let out a soft whine as the floor beneath them let out another, louder crack and dipped slightly.

Hiccup stared as spider web fractures slithered from the imbedded spear and past their feet.

"That doesn't sound good," Fishlegs' nervous voice seemed quiet under the ominous noise of breaking rock.

It only took seconds before the floor gave out from under them and they all fell into darkness.

* * *

**Some notes:**

**So, I've never actually _been_ in a blizzard...an inch of snow is hard to come by where I live, so I apologize if I got any of the science wrong (_forgiveme!_)**

**I also feel that Hiccup is kinda OOC in this chapter, or at least more that I want him to be. So sorry for that too (_I'mahorribleperson!_)**

**Not to mention that this chapter seems kinda filler-ish, but it's important I swear! (_Idon'tdeserveyourkindness!_)**

**But the good news is the story is finally rolling! New characters and awesome things next chapter, be prepared.**

**Random Question Time!(Why? Cause it's fun)**

** The first reviewer to answer this gets a shout-out on the next chapter and bragging-rights ;) Be nice, no cheating and looking it up on Google (not that I can stop you)**

**Question: What movie did the song 'Zip-a-dee-do-dah' originate from?**

**Do me proud readers, and may the odds be ever in your favor.**

**See ya next time**

**~Oliver**


	3. Chapter 3

**Greetings and whatnot to all who come here.**

**Here you go friends, another chapter awaits you :) **

**I offer a congratulations to _Sword of the Auzure Rain_ for being the first to answer my Chapter question correctly! Congrats, you get bragging rights until next chapter!**

**Yes, the song Zip-a-dee-do-dah originated in the Disney film Song of the South.**

**Now, down to business, put your serious faces on. Some of my OCs enter in this chapter, and since this is the first time I've created and used Original Characters in fanfiction, I'd _really_ appreciate all and any creative criticism from viewers. Keep your criticism mature and if you have a problem, give me pointers on how to fix it. :) Judge away!**

**_Disclaimer: Knock knock. Who's there? I don't own How to Train Your Dragon. I don't own HTTYD who-? STOP REMINDING ME THAT I DON'T OWN IT!_**

* * *

"Ahh-Oomph!"

"Ouch! Watch where you're falling next time!"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to. It's not like I was _freefalling _or anything, you know."

"Don't backsass me, man!"

"Dude, who's butt is in my face? Get off of me now!"

"I'm kinda stuck right now. And it's not like I _want _your face in my butt!"

"Shut up! If you fart I will castrate you!"

"Would you guys just calm down? Is everyone alright?"

"If you call a dragon landing on my spine 'alright', then yes. I feel fan-freaking-tastic."

"Enough with the sarcasm, Hiccup, you're not helping."

"Ugh, Toothless get off of me!"

Roar.

"That's it, you're going on a diet when we get home."

Hiccup heard an affronted growl before he felt a large weight lift off him and he took a deep breath in, finally able to breath properly.

The freefall and slide ride down the dark hole of doom, as Hiccup decided to refer to it as, was probably much shorter than seemed. The worst thing was the fact that he couldn't see anything within an inch of his face, which made him hyperaware to all the twists and turns the tunnel made, as well as the rocks and people that bumped into him on the way down. Digging his foot and prosthetic into the slickened rock hadn't helped him decrease his momentum much as he hoped it would. He had entertained the idea of throwing his arms out to the sides to hopefully catch a hold on the surrounding walls, but didn't have time to act on it once the rock disappeared out from under him.

Of course, there was quite a pile underneath him when he landed, and he considered himself lucky that he was the last off their ride. Then he felt the pain his friends experienced when his Night Fury landed on him, thus ending the dog pile.

"_Well, it could've been worse. Toothless could've crushed me to death," _he thought morbidly to himself after his dragon leap off and away from the group of humans.

He heard Toothless' claws clacking against the rocky floor as he slid off whoever was under him.

The darkness that invaded his vision during their fall hadn't let up now that they'd landed, and Hiccup put his arms out in front of him to make sure he didn't walk into a wall and break his nose.

Despite the darkness, the chieftain's son looked around, hoping to see some form of light, or at least a way out. Naturally, he couldn't see the ending hole that they'd fallen out of, but figured it wasn't too high up considering nobody was complaining of any broken bones. Yet.

He heard Astrid sigh somewhere off in the darkness, "Okay, role call, is anybody hurt?"

"I think I'm good." Hiccup checked each voice he heard.

Fishlegs was fine.

"My brother fell on my face, so yeah, it's probably flattened now."

"Would you shut it? It's not like you were the most comfortable thing to land on!"

The twins were bickering, which means they were both alright.

"Oh man! I can't see, I'm blind!"

"Snotlout, you're fine. It's just dark. None of us can see."

And Snotlout's intelligence didn't seem any different, so everyone was okay.

Hiccup smiled in relief. Their landing could've turned out a lot worse than it did. The last thing their little group needed was a series of broken bones and internal injuries.

"Hiccup, how about you?"

He turned his head towards the direction of Astrid's voice, "Yeah I'm alright. None of you happen to know where we fell from do you?"

"Well…I thought it was from over there."

Silence encased the cavern.

"Fishlegs, we can't see where you're pointing."

"Oh! Right." Hiccup suddenly felt a hand tap his shoulder as Fishlegs reached out for someone nearest to him. He grabbed Hiccup's arm and directed it to where he had been pointing to a moment ago.

"Alright, show everyone else, and let's see if we can find the tunnel we fell out of."

A distant, yet familiar, squawk echoed around them before they could act on Hiccup's command.

He heard a gasp from Astrid, "That's Cress, she must have heard us when we fell down."

Hiccup heard shuffling of feet as the blonde called up to her dragon. He soon tuned out what she was saying so he could think through their new situation and tried to turn around only to stub his good foot on a rock. Resisting the urge to hop up and down in pain, he grunted and cursed the darkness around him. At this rate, it was going to take a miracle for them to find their way out. Oh, why did he leave his matches in Toothless' saddlebag? He just had to unsaddle the Night Fury back…

Where was that dragon anyway?

"Toothless? Come here, Bud." he called out into the darkness, the call echoing before he heard a warble come from the distance. He figured Toothless had walked off a ways out of curiosity, despite the lack of noise the dragon gave off.

"_He's a Night Fury. Seeing in the dark is probably a necessity_," he smiled to himself. At least someone could see where they were.

Astrid's voice was lost in the echoes of Toothless' talons scraping against the floor.

Toothless nudged his side when he came within touching distance of his rider and Hiccup gave his scales a good scratch in praise. With his dragon near for support, the teen started to stretch his mind out for a plan to get back to the surface.

Hiccup thought about asking the dragon to send a stream of fire along the walls or ceiling of the underground hole they were in to gain some light, but that ran the risk of a cave-in if the rocks were too unstable.

He flinched with surprise as something suddenly touched his face.

"Oops, sorry," Astrid's hand went down onto his arm, "I called up to Cress and told her to go home. There's no way any of the others could fit through the tunnel to get to us, and who knows how big the hole in the floor is. Hopefully the others' dragons follow her lead and take the fish with them."

Hiccup groaned and ran a hand over his face at a thought that brought up, "Oh man, Dad's going to freak when they show up without us."

"You mean, you didn't tell you father where we were going?" Snotlout asked tensely.

"I thought we were going to be back within a day, so it didn't really cross my mind at the time."

"Alright, well, let's not dwell on that stuff and focus on trying to get out," Astrid's voice was soft but held no room for argument.

Hiccup nodded before remembering nobody could see it, "She's right. Let's try to come up with a plan. Toothless is the only-"

"Hello?"

All movement amongst the Berkians stopped as the light greeting echoed around them. Toothless moved his head away from Hiccup's hand and sniffed at the air suddenly as a bright white glow came into the cavern.

Hiccup snapped his eyes shut at the sudden intrusion of light before blinking to let his vision adjust to the shift. Resisting the urge to squint, he focused on the light and almost yelped in shock at what he saw.

Hovering in the air in front of him was a tiny white dragon, about the same length as a Terrible Terror, but thinner than them. It's body was like that of a snake's, with the exception of tiny fore and hind limbs that clung to it's sides as it flew. It's wings beat incredibly fast, so fast that Hiccup had to look closely to see flashes of it against the dark rock. What shocked Hiccup, though was the bright glow that came off it's scales, and plain patches of skin where the creature's eyes should've been. The teen quickly ran though all the articles from Berk's Dragon Manual in his head. He quickly came to the conclusion that he'd never seen or heard of this particular dragon before. He felt a familiar flicker of curiosity come to life in his head, as he examined the new discovery.

Tuffnutt backpedaled at the sight of it, "Whoa! What is that thing?"

Fishlegs' reaction was the total opposite as his eyes grew in wonder, "It's a glowing dragon. I've never seen one that _glowed _before."

Hiccup looked at the group, the light from the tiny dragon was so strong that he could make out each and every one of his friends. He could even see the rock walls and floor that laid beyond them. He quickly looked back at his previous subject as he saw it move closer out of the corner of his vision.

The small dragon tilted his head, which was pointed right at Hiccup despite it's lack of eyes.

It flitted close to the russet haired boy and sniffed at his face fervently before giving a satisfied chirp. It proceeded to zip upwards to the ceiling of the cave before it hung upside down on the stone.

The group stared at the dragon in mild shock.

Ruffnutt scratched the back of her head in a confused manner, "Well…that was-"

"Glimmer!" Hiccup turned towards the sound of the voice, with the help of the dragon illuminating the area, he could see in full clarity as a girl came into their line of sight from a crevasse in the wall to his right.

"Glimmer, I swear if you're bringing me on another stupid little hunt for cave bugs I'm gonna…AH!" she gave a startled scream as she took in the sight of the teenagers and backpedaled in surprise before tripping over herself and falling on her backside.

"Ow…" she winced and muttered to herself. She looked up and Hiccup caught her eye, still shell-shocked into silence. How did she get down here? The island was supposed to be uninhabited. Did she live in this cave? There was no way a person could be _living _here.

The girl's eyes widened again in fear, and she started babbling quickly, "Ohmygodsghosts!"

Hiccup glanced at Astrid, who shrugged.

"I did'unt mean to disturb you! Just…just go back to the underworld or wherever it is you float about, but don't eat me!" she held up her hands to shield her face from a power she expected them to throw at her.

Hiccup seemed to gain his voice back from listening to her panicked tone, "No! No, we…um, we're not ghosts."

The girl's babbling ceased at his words, and she peaked out from behind her hands, "Not ghosts?"

"Um, no. We're human, I promise."

She was a lithe girl, Hiccup noted, who seemed a few years younger than himself. Her clothes were dark, so dark that they seemed to match the rock wall behind her. Her hair was dark as well, although Hiccup was unable to distinguish whether it was black or brown in the amount of light present. It was short, just long enough to reach her chin, and her curly locks stuck up and out to the sides in random places in an unkempt manner. Strapped to her side was a small dagger and a pouch that bulged with it's unknown contents. The only other thing that seemed abnormal was the burnt out torch she held in her hands.

Hiccup came to the conclusion that her emergence was extremely random, and one question out of the many he had kept repeating in his mind. Why was this girl in a cave underneath an island in the middle of nowhere?

She must have felt nervous as he and his friends scrutinized her because she let out a nervous chuckle to try to release the unsure tension in the air, "Oh, well then…um, wow, I have never seen someone so far away from the village before. How did you guys get here?"

Astrid pointed to the hole they had fallen through, now completely visible near the top of the cave wall, "We fell through the floor. You see, we-"

The girl suddenly swept her arms in front of her, "Whoa, wait a second. You are all from up above? F-From the surface?"

"Yeah," said Snotlout, scrunching his nose at her strange words, "isn't that where you're from?"

She stared in amazement for another second before shaking her head, "I'm sorry, I am being rude."

She hopped to her feet, completely unfazed by her previous scare and walked up to Hiccup, who happened to be the closest to her.

She held out her hand and smiled, "My name is Liva Halvander."

Hiccup took her hand and shook it, "I'm Hiccup. And this is Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnutt, Tuffnutt, Fishlegs, and Toothless."

Toothless must have blended into the background because Liva gave another scream of surprise as her eyes landed on the dragon.

Toothless merely cocked his head at the girl, probably wondering what she was screaming at. He apparently didn't think she was a threat, because his sights went straight to the other dragon, who Hiccup realized was Glimmer.

Liva's eyes went as wide as dinner plates as she stared at the Night Fury, "Whoa…"

"Yeah, look sorry, but do you think you could help us out? We kind of don't know where we are and…"

"Oh, right of course, it's just…I have never seen anybody from the surface before. Especially not ones that just appear out of nowhere," She reached out, as if she were touching something fragile, and touched Hiccup's fur vest in wonder. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her actions and cast a glance at Astrid, who shrugged again. Apparently this was making as much sense to her as it was to him.

Tuffnutt interrupted Liva's exploration of Hiccup's clothing, "Wait, you mean you _live _down here?"

Liva smiled at him while bouncing on the balls of her feet, "Yeah, lots of us live down here."

The others stared at her in confusion, which gave the small girl reason to roll her eyes and walk back to the crevasse she entered from, "Come on, I'll take you to the village and see if we can help you."

She glanced at the ceiling and held out her arm, "Come on, Glimmer, you little rat. We gotta lead the surface-dwellers home."

The tiny dragon chirped, and the light it gave off flickered before it flew onto Liva's outstretched arm. The glow of the dragon lessened as she retreated into the darkness.

Hiccup looked to his friends, who, in turn, were looking at him for direction

He shrugged, "Well, we don't have any other ideas. We might as well see where she takes us."

And, with their leader's consent, the lost group of Berkians followed the strange girl out of their entrance cave and into an even bigger one.

H~~~T~~~T~~~Y~~~D

"Say, that dragon of yours is really cool!"

Hiccup glanced down at the younger girl as she walked beside him. Their group had been following her for a while now, and the rocks surrounding them on all four sides weren't exactly the most exciting thing to make conversations about.

However, her abruptness on this new subject made Hiccup laugh.

"What?" she asked him, "what's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just that with most people, their first instinct when the see a dragon is to, you know," he deepened his voice in an attempt to sound like so many of the adults in his village, "rip it's head off and mount it on their wall."

He swept a hand in front of him, as if to dismiss the past sentence, "And yet, you see Toothless and you're _calm _about it."

"Um, hello?" she pointed to Glimmer. The dragon had made it's home on her person a few minutes ago, resting in a circle around her head like some sort of glowing crown; it's light was bright enough for the whole group to be able to see where they were going without falling flat on their face with every step.

"_Only ever other step," _Hiccup thought sarcastically as he took a glance back to make sure the others were keeping up with him and Liva before turning back to the girl.

"In case you hav'unt noticed, I already have a pet dragon."

"Yeah, I've been wondering about him."

"Her," she corrected him immediately upon his mistake, "Glimmer is female. She is of a breed we call Cave Winkers."

"Are there many of these dragons here?" Astrid was suddenly on the other side of him, leaning forward to get a clear view of the younger girl as she talked.

Hiccup jumped at her sudden appearance and sent a mock glare at her, which Astrid kindly replied to with a smug smile.

Liva smiled at Astrid, and Hiccup noted that she seemed to be a very friendly girl. Ever since she had gotten over her first scare at seeing them, she'd been all smiles and friendly words to his group. He didn't know if he found her personality refreshing or simply bizarre.

"Oh there are hundreds of Cave Winkers! Most stay on the cave ceiling above Drómundr, and are so pretty to look at…"

Hiccup stopped dead in his tracks at the mention of one word. _"Drómundr? The word written on the wall."_ with everything that had happened, Hiccup had forgotten why Snotlout led them to that part of the upper cave in the first place. It was real?

"Drómundr," Liva scrunched her eyebrows at him, wondering why he stopped so suddenly, "what is it exactly?"

Liva gave him a mysterious smile, and turned forwards, skipping along the way they were headed, "Wait a few minutes and you will see."

Astrid tugged at his sleeve once Liva seemed far enough away to not overhear her, "Well, what do you make of her?"

Hiccup hummed, and lifted a hand to twirl a loose strand of Astrid's hair around his finger, "After hours and hours of deductive reasoning I'd say that…she's odd."

Astrid rolled her eyes at him, "I'm serious Hiccup. I'm mean, look at her. We found her in the middle of a _cave_, a cave where nobody is supposed to live. You heard what Fishleg's told us, about how nothing grows here. How is she surviving? Do we even know if we can trust her?"

Hiccup looked again at the girl, who make her way across the rocky path with a certain ease and grace that only came to a person through lifelong experience. Liva had given them no reason to be distrusted thus far, but, then again, they met merely an few hours ago. She could be leading them to their deaths as they speak. They could simply decide to not follow her. It wasn't like she couldn't be overpowered. If anyone in Hiccup's group distrusted her enough to want to leave her sight, it would be all too easy.

But what choice did they have?

"I get where you're coming from, Astrid," he crossed his arms over his chest, "but what else can we do besides stumble around in the dark hoping to find a way out? What do we have to lose by following her?"

Astrid scrutinized him, seeing if he was dead-set on his answer before placing her hands on her hips and turning forward to eye Liva warily, "Alright, you're the boss. Whatever you say goes."

For some reason, that answer didn't satisfy Hiccup as much as he hoped it would.

The weary voice of Fighlegs made it's way to the front of the group, "How much further?"

"Yeah, I think I've waked through the bottom of my shoes," Snotlout leaned against the wall for a second to massage his feet.

"It's right around this corner," she shouted back to the group.

The words seemed to inspire the group to pick up their pace, and Hiccup was suddenly aware of how much his foot and stub of a leg hurt from hiking along the rocky trail and from their earlier fall. With the sun out of sight there was no way for any of them to tell how much time had passed, but Hiccup guessed from his sore bones and weary body that it was around two and a half hours since they started their trek. He didn't know what he'd find once they turned the corner, but he was hoping there would be a bed, some food, and water waiting for him.

When he finally came to the lip of the tunnel they were walking in, he found himself having to do a double take at the scene to make sure what he was seeing was real.

Liva threw an arm out towards her home and bowed to the group of Berkians, "Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to Drómundr"

Glimmer gave a light-hearted chirp and flew in circles around her owner's head before flying off towards the direction of the village.

Well, village wasn't something Hiccup would call it. The whole place just looked like someone took tiny mountains and decorated it with stars.

Giant stalagmites rose from the ground, and most seemed to have holes carved in and through them. Up above, long stalactites rained down like muddy rain frozen in time, the water cascaded down from them in endless _drip drip drip _synchronies. Behind the hollowed put stalagmites were large, carved indentures that ran far up the cavern wall. Hiccup dared to think that they were windows for actual houses made by Liva's people. Paths up and down were laid with stone ramps, and lit torches glowed along them to light the way.

High above where the torches stopped, the walls curved inward and upward, making the whole space a sort of rock-like bubble, and at the very top was a giant hole, large enough to let sunlight shine down upon the whole area. Hiccup could see a faint veil of misty fog gather around the natural skylight.

As a matter of fact, the whole area seemed incredibly warm and humid, the temperature much warmer than the summers of Berk. He looked at the outskirts of the 'village' and saw a wide river running out of one tunnel, around the makeshift houses, and into another, creating a moat to protect the residents. A simple bridge was built to allow passage across the moderately paced current.

All the walls seemed smooth and seamless except for a single patch of rock near the tunnel entrance they were standing at, which just looked like a lot of huge bolders piled up against the wall. The floor seemed level too, and Hiccup could see something that looked like grass basking underneath the sunlight the hole up top let through.

Hiccup scratched his head, trying to figure out the village before Liva explained it to him.

Astrid, standing next to him, tried to comprehend what she was seeing and turned to Liva for an explanation, "This is Drómundr?"

"Yes, it is where me and my family live."

"What? Just how long have you been living in here?" Tuffnutt exclaimed.

"My ancestors were Vikings, and this island used to be a large, open grotto. The fleet my ancestors sailed on stopped in the grotto to rest from a storm, and there was a cave in."

She told the story nonchalantly, as if she were just reciting what she ate for breakfast that morning rather than telling the unfortunate history of her people, "My people have been trapped here ever since. Unable to find a way to leave, not that we need to. We have everything we need to survive down here."

"But why can't you get out? There's a giant exit right above your head."

"We have no giant dragons that can fly us up and out."

"You've never tried rock climbing before?"

"Oh, people have tried. It just usually never ends well for them, though." Liva's eyes subtly shifted towards a clearing a distance to her left, where what Astrid recognized as a sacred area meant for cremation ceremonies lay amongst the watery rocks.

They started walking towards the bridge that would lead then across the river, but Astrid saw that her other friends wouldn't stop at the brief explanation Liva had given them.

"What do you mean you have everything to survive? 'Legs here said that this island had no one living on it, and that no food could grow!" the blonde male continued his questionnaire.

"I don't know about the rock above, but below there is an endless rain that drips from the spiky rocks coming from the ceiling. So the ground is always wet and squishy."

She jumped in a nearby puddle to accentuate her point. Astrid quickly sidestepped to avoid the resulting splash of water, but seeing as her shirt was already starting to get damp from the 'rain', she supposed she would end up drenched no matter what she did.

Liva continued, ignoring the water on her clothes, "Not much grows with the small amount of sun and the excessive water. But what does grow grows in large amounts. More than enough for us."

Tuffnutt raised a hand to rub at his temples, "Ugh, too much information at once. I'm getting a headache"

Liva shrugged, "You were the one who was asking."

Ruffnutt gave her brother a pat on the back, "Don't worry, it's not you. He's just not used to thinking so much."

"Hey don't tell me you're not curious, it's a whole village living underground! Like a colony of moles or something!"

Liva tilted her head innocently, "Moles?"

Astrid tuned out their conversation, as she glanced over Drómundr once more. A city with such a background story seemed so improbable, but the evidence was right in front of her.

The group reached the bridge, the others still chatting with the underground girl as they walked over it.

Astrid glanced over at Hiccup, who seemed uncharacteristically quiet. Usually it was him asking all the questions, yet all he was doing was watching the girl interact with the boys and Ruffnutt. She wondered what he made of all of this, if he believed Liva's story.

She reached out to tap him on the shoulder to ask him, but stopped when he spoke up, "What about the river?"

Liva stopped in her discussion of underground and overground animal life, "Huh?"

"Have you ever sailed down the river? The tunnel is big enough for a ship, isn't it?"

Liva's eyes went wide at the question, and she wrung her hands together uncertainly, "Well, I suppose it is, but our Chief has sent people down there, and, well, he has'unt allowed anyone through there without permission from him first."

Now _that _Astrid considered suspicious. It was obviously a way out, so why wouldn't their leader take it? Her head gave a sharp throb and, like Tuffnutt, she felt this was too much for her to take in one sitting. Perhaps there was a legitimately practical reason he wouldn't let others go down the channel.

"Liva!"

Astrid was snapped out of her thoughts by the shout, and she tensed as she saw someone with a spear calling to them from the, now very close by, village. She was sure she was hiding her nervousness well, after all Hiccup hadn't noticed and if he didn't the others obviously wouldn't. The whole place unsettled her, she wasn't sure why, but Astrid knew from years of battle training to trust her instincts.

She figured it was the enclosed feeling. There was no escape. And she would've felt safer if she knew she and the others could get out.

A snort from her right made her turn to see Toothless shaking himself dry from the dripping water that accumulated on his wings. Wait….

"Hiccup…" she tried to tell her boyfriend about her idea, but he shook his head at her.

"In a second, Astrid."

Astrid froze and then narrowed her eyes. _"He did _not _just shush me," _she thought angrily, but once she got a good look at his tried expression and body posture, she decided to let it go. Just this once. _"It's not like we're going anywhere anyway."_

She turned her attention back to the person running to greet them. His tall figure dwarfed Liva, who ran to him with a smile.

She figured they were related, since the guy had the same curly black hair, although his was shorter. His spear was entirely made of rock, and he wore a sheathed sword at his side.

"Where have you been? Lady Grena has had me looking everywhere for you! She told me she sent you to the market to get more herbs for you to make medicine. You're a pretty poor apprentice for disappearing during every lesson."

Liva pouted, "I was just hunting for a good rock to grind the herbs, Brother."

"No, you were'unt. You were on one of your little excursions, doing Odin knows what, in the dark, with only your dragon to help you if you get hurt. As usual."

Glimmer gave a soft growl at the boy, but flew to him and laid across his shoulders, happy to have found a new rest spot.

Liva smiled cheekily at the boy, reached behind her to grab Hiccup, and shoved him in front of her, "But look at what I found on my 'little excursion'."

She turned towards Astrid and the other, "Guys, this is my elder brother, Axel."

The boy looked at Hiccup and then back at Liva, unamused, "Oh joy, you've found…."

He took another glance at Hiccup, "Who are you?"

"Hiccup Haddock, we-"

"We come from the surface world, and a place called Berk," Snotlout said loudly, loud enough for people passing by to send strange glances over.

"Wait," Axel trained his eyes on Hiccup, looking him up and down. Astrid could see Hiccup fidget under his gaze, "What did you say your name was?"

"Um…Hiccup Haddock?"

Axel turned back to his sister so quickly just watching the action gave Astrid whiplash, "Did you know of this? Is that why you brought him?"

"I…I did'unt know, I swear! All he said was his first name!"

Axel turned again to Hiccup and bowed, "My apologies, sir."

Snotlout and the twins snorted with laughter at the formality, but were shut up quickly with by glares from Hiccup, Astrid, and Toothelss.

Astrid heard the newly found siblings mutter to each other. She caught words like 'important' and 'gotta tell Chief' and couldn't help wondering why Hiccup had suddenly become so much more important in their eyes.

Their conversation broke off quickly. Liva crossed her arms and kicked at a stray rock in agitation.

Axel turned back to the group, "Would you guys mind coming with me? Our Chief Eirik will want to meet any newcomers to Drómundr. No matter how odd their circumstances of arriving are."

Hiccup smiled, "Sure, why not?"

Axel nodded his head, "Yes, you're guests, just follow me and I shall lead you to him. He should be in his home, making plans for next season's harvest."

Hiccup, now noticing Liva walking away from them and into the village, asked, "Where's Liva going? She's not coming with us?"

Axel blew a black curl out of his eyes and slung his spear over his shoulder before turning to lead them down the streets of his village, "A healer's apprentice should go to her lessons. And Lady Grena will have a thing or two to say to my little sister once she gets back. Now come."

H~~~T~~~T~~~Y~~~D

The walk through the underground village was a sight, Astrid concluded. Indeed, there had been doors and windows carved into the stone surrounding them, the torches surrounding them flickered with the water droplets that fell from the ceiling. The stone surrounding them seemed to have switched from sharp and black to smooth and a cream and red color.

The villagers stared at them when the passed, seeming to know that they were new in town. It was easy to see the differences between them, Astrid thought. All those who lived down here were pale and didn't notice the heavy atmosphere, while Astrid's skin was tanned and she felt her lungs strain under the large amount of water in the air. It felt like she was drowning.

She wondered how long these people must have lived here, to be able to make homes from the rock and go unaffected by their surroundings. It must have been at least a few generations.

During their walk, Toothless had brushed past her to get to his rider, who gave his dragon some much needed attention. Said Night Fury took everything around him in stride. He was about as sociable to those of Drómundr as he was to the people of Berk. The dragon never really did warm up to the others of Berk, just to Hiccup, Astrid, Stoick, Gobber, and the other teens. He would growl at any others who went near him or his rider if Hiccup didn't reassure him first.

Astrid figured the reason the dragon was walking by Hiccup's side now was to keep him safe from the new strangers.

Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins were strangely quiet, and Astrid didn't know if she should be glad for that or not. She figured they were just in the process of taking it all in like she was.

They finally reached the home that was their destination, and they walked through the archway that represented a door. The inside of the manmade outcroppings reminded Astrid of an anthill. It looked solid on the outside, but hundreds of rooms and tunnels ran through the inside, making it very confusing, but also very interesting.

The rock on the inside looked the same as it was outside, but she was surprised to find that the furniture was made from wood and metal. The inside was also lit by torches that aligned the walls, the orange light gave the area a sort of eerie feel.

Axel took them through a few halls until they stopped in a large, high-roofed room.

"Wait here, I will go get Eirik."

Once he was out of sight Snotlout let out a long whistle, "What is everyone back home going to think of this?"

"They probably won't believe us," Hiccup said, "Besides, to tell them we have to first find a way home. You hear what Liva said, they can't get out."

He brought a hand to his chin, already going through the possible situations that could help them get back home.

Astrid, having been reminded of what she wanted to tell Hiccup earlier, spoke up before Hiccup could get too deep into this planning, "I know a way to get out."

Hiccup looked up in surprise, Astrid's statement almost having been lost amongst his many racing ideas, "What do you mean?"

"Toothless, my oh-so fearless leader," she said, giving his genius little head a flick, "He can fly, in case you haven't noticed."

She expected Hiccup's face to light up, to say that he completely forgot, and that he'd have them back home in a hop, skip, and a flight. What she got was something totally different.

Hiccup stiffened, sucked a breath in through his teeth, and refused to meet her gaze; his eyes darted to the floor, over her shoulder, and back. All signs of someone who had been caught doing something they shouldn't have.

"Hiccup…."

"Well, heh, funny thing about that. You know when we flew in from the blizzard, and we unsaddled out dragons to let them get the ice and snow off."

Astrid had a feeling she knew where this was going, and she didn't like it, "Yes…."

She could see Hiccup gulp at her gaze, which she knew that _he _knew was going to get fiery soon.

"I may…not have put it back on afterwards," he gave a nervous laugh, "I didn't think we'd need it during the storm."

"Well, what about the designs, don't you always carry a copy of them with you? Just in case?"

That, she knew, was a true statement. She found it in his pocket during one of their more serious make out sessions. Of course she asked about it later, and that was the answer she got. You never know where you may get stranded, he had said.

"I….left it in his saddle bag?"

He winced at the expression Astrid was giving him.

"B-but it's ok!" he exclaimed, holding out his hands defensively in front of him, I'm going to go to the blacksmith's after we meet this Eirik guy and draw out the design for them so they can help me make a new one. It'll be easy!"

"How long will it take to make?"

Silence.

"Hiccup. How long will it take?"

"…."

"…."

"….A week and a half."

Astrid couldn't hold back the exasperated sigh, "Hiccup, for how smart you are, you can be really stupid sometimes."

"Hey! It's not like I expected us into this mess! You were the one who caused us to fall down here in the first place!"

"Oh, no, you are not blaming this on me! Who's the one who got his foot stuck in the crack!"

"Ha, yeah, remember how I _wanted _that to happen? I guess I forgot how I purposefully got myself stuck-ow! What was that for?" he rubbed the spot on his arm where she had ruthlessly punched him.

"That was for being stupid."

"Well, gee, thanks."

She hit him again.

"Would you stop that?"

"Um…pardon my interruption," a new voice interjected.

"What?" both Hiccup and Astrid shouted in unison at the stranger, who stood in front of them, smiling slightly at their display. Axel stood behind him, with a similar expression on his face.

White-blonde locks fell over amused eyes and the scar that ran it's way across his nose. He was young, but his face held tell-tale signs of a leader. He was pale, like most of the people they've seen down in Drómundr.

"I hate to break up a lover's quarrel, but I figured I should introduce myself," he stepped forward, with a very noticeable limp to his gait, and held out a hand in greeting, "I am Eirik, ruler of Drómundr."

Hiccup stood up straight and shook Eirik's hand, apologizing for his and Astrid's rudeness.

Eirik only laughed loudly at the apology, "Oh it's no trouble, it at least gave me a few moments of entertainment. So, you are Hiccup Haddock?"

Hiccup stood straight, his head held high in front of this new person, trying to hold the air of leadership like his father, "Yes, we seemed to have stumbled upon your village."

"These things happen. And when they do, all you can do is go with the flow."

Eirik brought his other hand down upon Hiccup's shoulder, giving it a firm shake.

"Right, Cousin?"

* * *

**Oooo, cliffhanger...but not a very exciting one. But, Huzzah! The plot is now underway, and it's only going to get better from here on out!**

**So, now Liva, Axel, and Eirik have entered the story. Do you like them? Do they need work? Review and tell me please, so I can better myself and thus give you guys better quality Original characters :)**

**Random Question Time, Numero 2:**

**As before, the first reviewer to answer correctly gets a shout out in the next chapter and bragging rights.**

**Question: What is the name of the children's (although I'd put that up for debate) book series that is also about an underground city nobody knows of?**  
**_Hint: The author of it has written another, more successful series that is in the process of being made into movies as we speak_.**

**You're faves, alerts, and reviews are all graciously appreciated!**

**Happy Reading**

**~Oliver**


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